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☆ From 25 years in prison to just four months: Inside the final verdict on a crypto billionaire CEO archrivalry
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +18 min

Combination showing Former FTX CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (L) and Zhao Changpeng (R), founder and chief executive officer of Binance. A month earlier, on the opposite coast in downtown Manhattan, FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried received a 25-year prison sentence for his crimes. At the beginning of his trial, SBF sported a fresh haircut and wore suits, but by its end, his curls were wild again. Cryptocurrency exchange Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao speaks at a Binance fifth anniversary event in Paris, France, July 8, 2022. watch nowMoney makes all the differenceUnlike SBF, CZ didn't have his wealth wiped out by bankruptcy of the crypto company he founded.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Zhao Changpeng, Mike Segar, Benjamin Girette, Changpeng Zhao, FTX's Sam Bankman, Fried, Zhao, Binance's Zhao, FTX's, Toyotas, Braden Perry, Perry, Manfred, SBF, Michael Lewis, Lewis, Sam didn't, Amr Alfiky, Sam, Caroline Ellison, —, Zhao's, Yi He, Binance, David Ryder, Yang, Rachel Zhao, Yesha Yadav, Yadav, Mark Bini, Lewis Kaplan, Bankman, Kaplan, perjured, Neama Rahmani, Rahmani, Tre Lovell, Zhao hasn't, Lovell, weren't, FTX Organizations: Reuters, Bloomberg, Getty, Department of Justice, CFTC, Stanford University's, Bankman, CZ, Staff, Reuters Prosecutors, Alameda Research, Vanderbilt University, Wall Street, CNBC, FTX, Emergency Economic, Justice Department, DOJ Locations: Seattle, Manhattan, California, Hong Kong, Bahamas, Palo Alto, U.S, New York City, Alameda, Seattle , Washington, Paris, France, Angeles, Binance, Dubai, Delaware

☆ Kaspersky: Biden administration preparing to prevent Americans from using Russian-made software over national security concern
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

US government agencies are already banned from using Kaspersky Lab software but action to prevent private companies from using the software would be unprecedented. It’s the latest US government effort to use its vast regulatory powers to prevent Americans from using popular technology that US officials consider a national security risk. A Kaspersky Lab spokesperson did not respond to questions about a potential prohibition or about how big the company’s market share is in the US. Commerce Department officials have to carefully consider how practical any such regulation would be for the department to enforce and for users to comply with. But the expected move from the Biden administration would go a step further by using Commerce Department authorities to prevent private companies from using Kaspersky Lab software.

Persons: CNN —, Biden, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Kaspersky, Trump, ”, ” Henry Young, Young, Eugene Kaspersky, ” Kaspersky, hasn’t, Harold Martin, ” CNN’s Zachary Cohen, Phil Mattingly, Evan Perez Organizations: CNN, Commerce Department, Kaspersky, Commerce, Trump, Emergency Economic, Street, Companies “, Business Software Alliance, Department, McAfee, Symantec, Lab, —, Russian Ministry of Defense, West, National Security Agency, Politico, NSA, Wall Street Locations: Russian, America, Commerce, Moscow, Russia, Israel, Eugene, Ukraine

☆ Explainer-How the West Might Use Russia's Frozen Reserves
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( March | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

Here are some of the ideas that have been suggested:CONFISCATIONSome international policymakers and lawyers say the immobilised Russian reserves can simply be confiscated under a doctrine of international law known as "countermeasures". Some in the bloc are still wary, though, and the European Central Bank has warned that claiming the trapped Russian assets should only be done in tandem with G7 powers. The bondholders would not have a contractual claim on the Kremlin’s frozen reserves. Ukraine would have a plausible way to collect on any damages awarded up to the value of the reserves. If Moscow refused to pay the damages, the allies could then use Russia’s frozen assets to pay off the loan.

Persons: Marc Jones, Lee Buchheit, Daleep Singh, Mark Heinrich Organizations: Marc Jones LONDON, Emergency Economic, U.S, European Central Bank Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Kuwait, United States, EU, Russian, Brussels, Belgium, U.S, Britain, China, Hong Kong, Dubai, Moscow

☆ Criminal sentencing of Binance founder CZ postponed to late April
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-12 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Changpeng Zhao, founder and CEO of Binance, attends the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris on June 16, 2022. The criminal sentencing of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao on a money laundering rule charge has been postponed until April 30, according to a notice Monday in Seattle federal court. That docket entry did not explain what would be a two-month delay in sentencing Zhao, a Canadian national widely known as "CZ" who is free on a $175 million release bond in the United States. Federal sentencing guidelines suggest a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison for Zhao, but prosecutors reportedly have considered asking for a harsher sentence. Zhao pleaded guilty on Nov. 21 to a charge of failure to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program at Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, William Burck Organizations: Viva Technology, Porte de, Canadian, CNBC, Department of Justice, Emergency Economic Locations: Porte, Paris, Seattle, United States, Binance

☆ Iran seizes oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-11 | by ( Mostafa Salem | Adam Pourahmadi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Abu Dhabi CNN —Iran has seized an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman and is transferring it to an Iranian port in retaliation for the United States confiscating the same vessel and its oil last year, Tasnim News Agency reported Thursday. The Strait of Hormuz at the northern end of the Gulf of Oman is the biggest oil chokepoint in the world. A maritime monitoring website, Tanker Trackers, said the vessel seized Thursday was a Marshall Islands-flagged crude oil tanker named St Nikolas, formerly known as the Suez Rajan. Almost 1 million barrels of Iranian crude oil were seized by the US government at the time, the DOJ said. The Suez Rajan transported the contraband to the United States and “incurred the significant expenses associated with the vessel’s voyage to the United States,” according to the DOJ.

Persons: St Nicholas, ”, UKMTO, Nikolas, Suez Rajan, “ Organizations: Abu Dhabi CNN, Tasnim News Agency, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Navy, United Nations, CNN, United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, ship’s Company, Oil, Tanker, US Department of Justice, DOJ, Emergency Economic, Navigation Locations: Abu Dhabi, Iran, Gulf of Oman, Iranian, United States, Oman, Islamic Republic, Gulf, Yemen, Gaza, Africa, Israel, Hormuz, Marshall, Suez, China

☆ Heroes to zeroes in 12 months: How the two biggest crypto billionaire CEOs proved the critics right
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-30 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Combination showing Former FTX CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (L) and Zhao Changpeng (R), founder and chief executive officer of Binance. Meanwhile, Solana is nearly 10x higher in the last 12 months, and bitcoin miner Marathon Digital has also skyrocketed. That same year, Bankman-Fried earned street cred in crypto circles for his bitcoin arbitrage trading strategy, dubbed the Kimchi swap. The relationship between Zhao and Bankman-Fried began to sour a few months after they met. In Nov. 2022, a fight between Bankman-Fried and CZ on Twitter, now known as X, pulled the mask off the scheme.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Zhao Changpeng, Bitcoin, Solana, Binance's, Zhao, FTX's Sam Bankman, Fried, JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, bitcoin, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Elizabeth Warren, execs, Renato Mariotti, Michael Lewis, Sam, gunning, Lewis, SBF, Binance, FTX, Goldman Sachs, General Merrick Garland, Garland, Amr Alfiky Organizations: Marathon, JPMorgan, Microsoft, Capitol, Department of Justice, U.S . Justice Department's Securities, Commodities, CZ, Alameda Research, Formula, Democratic, Twitter, Emergency Economic, U.S ., Futures Trading Commission, Treasury Department, Securities, Exchange Commission, Justice Department, DOJ, Reuters Locations: Hong Kong, Singapore, Bankman, FTX, Miami, Washington, Alameda, U.S, New York City

☆ A Spanish man accused of teaching North Korea how to evade US sanctions using crypto says his passport was confiscated more than 7 years ago
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Thibault Spirlet | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Spanish man accused of teaching North Korea to use crypto rejected the accusations. Alejandro Cao de Benós said his passport was confiscated 7 years ago, preventing foreign trips. AdvertisementA Spanish man pushed back against accusations that he was teaching North Koreans how to evade US sanctions using cryptocurrencies. In a strongly worded statement , Alejandro Cao de Benós said his passport was confiscated seven and a half years ago by Spanish authorities, making any foreign trips, and therefore his presence in North Korea, impossible. During the conference, Griffiths and co-conspirator Christopher Emms provided advice and instructions on how North Korea "could use blockchain and cryptocurrencies to evade US sanctions," the indictment read.

Persons: Alejandro Cao de Benós, —, Cao, Benós, Virgil Griffiths, Cao de Benós, Griffiths, Pyongyang's, Christopher Emms, Griffith, Virgil Giffin, Virgil Griffith Organizations: Service, North, Spanish, Business, Interpol, Spain's National Police, Cryptocurrency, Trump -, Economic, Public Affairs, FBI, BI, Korean Friendship Association Locations: North Korea, Spain, Spanish, Totana, Murcia, Madrid, Korea, Día

☆ A Spanish man faces 20 years in prison for teaching North Korea how to evade US sanctions using cryptocurrencies
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Thibault Spirlet | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Spanish man faces 20 years in prison for teaching North Korea cryptocurrency, according to police. Alejandro Cao de Benós is wanted by the FBI for helping North Korea evade US sanctions. He was arrested at a Madrid train station last week, Spanish police said. AdvertisementA Spanish man is facing 20 years in prison in the US for teaching North Koreans how to evade US sanctions using cryptocurrencies, according to Spain's National Police . And hackers with ties to North Korea stole $630 million in crypto last year, their biggest haul ever, Reuters reported in February, citing a confidential UN report.

Persons: Alejandro Cao de Benós, —, National Police didn't, Cao de Benós, Virgil Griffiths, Griffith, Cao de, Virgil Griffin Organizations: North Korea cryptocurrency, FBI, Service, North, Spain's National Police, Interpol, National Police, Korean Friendship Association, Trump -, Economic, Public Affairs, Street, Reuters, UN Locations: North Korea, Madrid, Barcelona, Spanish, blockchain, Pyongyang, United States, Korea, North

Zhao Changpeng, founder and chief executive officer of Binance, speaks at the Blockchain Week Summit in Paris, France, on Wednesday, April 13, 2022. Binance chief Changpeng Zhao will plead guilty to criminal charges and step down as the company's CEO as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with the Department of Justice, according to court documents. The plea arrangement with the government resolves a multi-year investigation into the world's largest crypto exchange. The Securities and Exchange Commission targeted the company with an expansive lawsuit in June, alleging that Binance was running an illegal securities exchange and mishandling customer funds. To this day, Binance remains the world's largest crypto exchange globally, processing billions of dollars in trading volume every year.

Persons: Zhao Changpeng, Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, Brian Tsuchida, Binance, Kraken, Gary Gensler, wasn't, Samuel Lim, —, ada, Kevin Breuninger Organizations: Department of Justice, Justice Department, DOJ, Emergency Economic, U.S, CNBC, Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Binance, Authority Locations: Paris, France, U.S, Seattle, Iran, Cayman Islands

Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao pleads guilty to felony charges Tuesday related to his failure to prevent money laundering on the crypto exchange platform. Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao on Tuesday named a new CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange he founded, after pleading guilty to federal money laundering charges and stepping down as the company's chief. Zhao named Richard Teng, a former CEO of Abu Dhabi Global Market, the UAE capital's financial services regulator, as Binance's new CEO. "He will ensure Binance delivers on our next phase of security, transparency, compliance, and growth," Zhao added. Zhao appeared before Judge Brian Tsuchida for a hearing in a Seattle courtroom at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time (1:00 p.m.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, Richard Teng, Teng, Binance, Sam Bankman, Fried, CNBC they'd, Brian Tsuchida Organizations: Abu, Abu Dhabi Global Market, Monetary Authority of, U.S, Bank, Emergency Economic, DOJ, CNBC, U.S . Department of Justice Locations: Abu Dhabi, UAE, Binance, Monetary Authority of Singapore, Seattle

☆ US seizes nearly 1 million barrels of Iranian oil allegedly bound for China
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-09 | by ( Lauren Koenig | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —The US government seized nearly 1 million barrels of Iranian crude oil allegedly bound for China, according to newly unsealed court documents and a statement released by the Department of Justice on Friday. “This is the first-ever criminal resolution involving a company that violated sanctions by facilitating the illicit sale and transport of Iranian oil,” according to the DOJ. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a US-designated foreign terrorist organization, allegedly shipped more than 980,000 barrels of oil, the press release stated. The IRCG was fined almost $2.5 million and was sentenced to three years of corporate probation. CNN has reached out to Empire Navigation for comment.

Persons: Iran’s IRGC, Force ”, ” Organizations: CNN, Department of Justice, DOJ, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Force, Emergency Economic, Suez Rajan, Navigation Locations: China, Suez, United States

☆ Ex-FBI counterintelligence official pleads guilty to conspiracy charge for helping Russian oligarch
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

McGonigal is expected to change his plea to guilty after initially pleading not guilty. A former high-ranking FBI counterintelligence official pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to violate sanctions on Russia by going to work, after he retired, for an oligarch he once investigated. McGonigal told the judge he accepted over $17,000 to help Deripaska collect derogatory information about another Russian oligarch who was a business competitor. McGonigal pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiring to launder money and violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. He supervised investigations of Russian oligarchs, including Deripaska.

Persons: Charles McGonigal, Oleg Deripaska, McGonigal, Deripaska, Rebecca Dell, Jennifer H, Rearden, Vladimir Putin, Matthew G, Olsen Organizations: FBI, Manhattan Federal Court, Emergency Economic, U.S, District of Columbia, Justice Department's National Security Division Locations: New York City, McGonigal, Russia, Crimea, New York, Washington ,, Albanian, Cypress, New Jersey, United States, Russian

☆ Former head of FBI intelligence pleads guilty to conspiracy in connection to scheme working for sanctioned Russian oligarch
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Lauren Del Valle | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The former head of counterintelligence for the FBI’s New York field office pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of conspiracy in connection to a scheme working for a sanctioned Russian oligarch in 2021. In court on Tuesday, McGonigal answered a series of questions about the illegal scheme for Deripaska and his mental competency before District Judge Jennifer Rearden accepted his guilty plea. “Mind is clear,” he told the judge, saying he feels “great.”In court, McGonigal, 55, said he is “deeply remorseful” for his actions. “I agreed with another party to collect open source derogatory information about a Russian oligarch named Vladimir Potanin who was a business competitor of Oleg Deripaska,” he said. McGonigal now could face up to a maximum five-year term in prison for the one count he pleaded guilty to Tuesday, Rearden said in court.

Persons: Charles McGonigal, John F, Oleg Deripaska, Seth DuCharme, McGonigal, Jennifer Rearden, ”, “, Vladimir Potanin, Deripaska, Rearden Organizations: CNN, FBI’s, FBI, Emergency Economic, US, Office, Southern, of, Kennedy International Airport Locations: York, Russian, of New York, New York, Washington, Albanian, Albania, McGonigal, United States

☆ Tobacco companies pay over $600 million to settle alleged sanctions violations with North Korea
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Hannah Rabinowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Two tobacco companies have agreed to pay over $600 million to US authorities over allegations that the companies were selling tobacco products to North Korea in violation of US sanctions. Separately, the Justice Department charged a North Korean banker and two Chinese nationals with helping to facilitate tobacco sales in North Korea, according to court documents. BATMS and the North Korean Tobacco Company — owned by the North Korean Government — created a joint enterprise in 2001 to manufacture BAT cigarettes within North Korea for domestic sale, according to the Justice Department. That arrangement continued past 2009, when the US Treasury Department placed additional sanctions on North Korean banks. According to court documents, North Korea would use Chinese companies to process payments between the country and a front company of BATMS to obfuscate the payments.

☆ Factbox: Why a broad US TikTok ban is unlikely to take effect soon
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Here is why:TRUMPCiting national security concerns, then-President Donald Trump told reporters he planned to ban TikTok in July 2020, threatening to shut it down if it could not be sold by its Chinese owner Bytedance to a U.S. buyer. But Trump's attempt to block TikTok with an executive order derived its power from the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Even if it's sidestepped, greater legal questions remain," said John Costello, who oversaw the creation of the office at the Commerce Department to examine certain foreign technology for national security threats. HOW A BILL BECOMES A LAWWashington lawmakers have also launched two separate bills aimed at allowing the president to ban apps like TikTok on grounds they pose a risk to U.S. national security. "To justify a TikTok ban, the government would have to demonstrate that privacy and security concerns can't be addressed in narrower ways.

Courts blocked a prior bid by the Trump administration to ban the app in part on the grounds that such a move violated free speech protections. Courts struck down former President Donald Trump's bid to block TikTok in 2020 with an executive order that granted the Commerce Department similar authorities as the RESTRICT act. But the bill will likely provide no immediate solutions for those calling for a ban on the app. Some experts said using the new legal tools to ban TikTok could still invite First Amendment challenges. "And there will most likely be a legal challenge if its used to ban TikTok."

☆ What would a federal expansion of deposit insurance look like?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

That’s the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s standard limit, meaning any bank deposits up to that amount are protected by the independent government agency. But now there’s growing support for raising that insurance cap. A higher insurance cap doesn’t automatically mean banks will be subject to tighter regulations, Dollar noted, but there could be some call for it. The FDIC insurance limit has been raised seven times since 1950 — and $250,000 also isn’t a calculated number, Collins said. In 2008, the FDIC used the same system for temporary unlimited deposit insurance guarantee on certain accounts.

☆ US senators unveil bipartisan bill empowering Biden to ban TikTok and other services
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Washington CNN —A dozen US senators unveiled bipartisan legislation Tuesday expanding President Joe Biden’s legal authority to ban TikTok nationwide, marking the latest in a string of congressional proposals threatening the social media platform’s future in the United States. The legislation, called the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology (RESTRICT) Act, does not target TikTok specifically for a ban. In the case of TikTok, lawmakers have said China’s national security laws could force TikTok’s Chinese parent, ByteDance, to provide access to TikTok’s US user data. The bill specifically directs the Secretary of Commerce to “identify, deter, disrupt, prevent, prohibit, investigate, or otherwise mitigate” national security risks associated with technology linked to those countries. But those have expanded to include makers of surveillance cameras and, more recently, apps and software makers such as TikTok.

☆ House panel to vote on bill empowering Biden to ban TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The legislation — introduced Friday and fast-tracked by Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Mike McCaul — would empower the Biden administration to impose a nationwide TikTok ban under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Legal experts and even some TikTok creators have cited the Berman Amendment as a potential barrier to a nationwide TikTok ban because it may violate the Berman Amendment’s protections for electronic information. US officials have said that the data could benefit China by facilitating targeted misinformation campaigns or by providing it with intelligence targets. In seeking to restrict access to a specific social media platform, the bill risks violating Americans’ First Amendment rights to free expression, the ACLU said. “Would an entity be under the influence of China if the CEO’s sister had moved there, or married a Chinese person?

☆ The Department of Justice charged 2 men over helping to conceal Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg's ownership of a $90 million superyacht
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Richard Masters and Vladislav Osipov were charged by the Department of Justice for sanctions evasion. The US has accused the pair of trying to conceal a sanctioned oligarch's ownership of a superyacht. Masters, 52, used a fake name for Viktor Vekselberg's "Tango," calling it the "Fanta," per DoJ. Prosecutors said Vladislav Osipov and Richard Masters had facilitated the operation of Vekselberg's $90 million yacht that was seized by Spanish authorities last April. Osipov designed a "complicated ownership structure of shell companies" to mask Vekselberg's ownership of the boat, called "Tango," according to the DoJ.

“Are you ashamed of what you’ve done?” one listener on BBC Radio Kent asked. Truss spoke to eight radio stations in all, spending between five and 10 minutes with each. The new prime minister did not answer many of the questions directly; instead, she gave the same semi-scripted answers, often punctuated with notable pauses and silences. “People like it when politicians are honest,” Sarah Julian, the presenter on BBC Radio Nottingham, said as she opened her segment. “As prime minister, I have to do what I feel is right for the country,” Truss told one of the radio stations, BBC Radio Norfolk, based in eastern England.

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